Oil Filter Quality - Hengst reply - Page 2 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

#16 11-16-2007, 08:07 PM

suppose your engine is clean, could one go without a filter perhaps? seems like that's less risk of ruining your engine... and if the engine, your oil, your funnel and your hands are clean, then all you have to worry about is soot. soot won't score your cylinders would it?
I'm taking my fram (bought a dozen when it was 1/2 price) out right now!

pawoSD · #17 11-16-2007, 09:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by henrydupont

suppose your engine is clean, could one go without a filter perhaps? seems like that's less risk of ruining your engine... and if the engine, your oil, your funnel and your hands are clean, then all you have to worry about is soot. soot won't score your cylinders would it?
I'm taking my fram (bought a dozen when it was 1/2 price) out right now!

Unless you change the oil every few hundred miles I'd highly recommend not doing that. It will kill the engine very quickly. Not to mention the MB oil circulation system relies on a filter being in the canister, to properly distribute the oil.

Always use a filter! Preferably a fram!

Hatterasguy · #18 11-16-2007, 09:32 PM

Well my engine has been running on these filters for the last 267k miles, at this point I have better things to worry about.

Since zero data exists that these filters harm the engine in any way, shape, or form.

A pine needle would be ground up in the oil pump and forced though the oil passages. Nothing inside these filters could do any harm.

tangofox007 · #19 11-16-2007, 10:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hatterasguy

Since zero data exists that these filters harm the engine in any way, shape, or form.

Little is proven by a lack of data.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hatterasguy

Nothing inside these filters could do any harm.

Here is some data for you. 100% of the filters that I have examined contained small rocks, pebbles and grit.

superbeast1098 · #20 11-16-2007, 10:19 PM

I think the point to be made here is that even though there may be lint, and twigs, and other debris in the filters, they are safe to use. There is very little risk of them getting any of that debris into your precious diesel engines, unless you never ever change your filters. As long as the filter does its intended job, there is nothing to be alarmed about.....

#21 11-16-2007, 10:25 PM

I don't see how any harm can be done by something soft entering precice machined metal slicing eachother at enormous speeds

pawoSD · #22 11-16-2007, 11:17 PM

They may or may not hurt the engine, but for now I will play it safe and use the Fram filters, as they are known to not contain scary rocks and ground up indian beetles.

estod · #23 11-16-2007, 11:19 PM

I, too, have pulled a piece of crud out of the filter center spike -- in my case a strand of cotton fluff, about 3/4 inch long.

This might not ruin bearings, but it sure could get wadded up & clog a small passage. I just can't see sticking filters in the engine that I feel sure have dirt and grit in them, and am amazed that some guys shrug this off. I can't imagine that MB engineers think this is OK -- they must have no voice at this point, at least for these old vehicles.

I can never find the Fram/Turkey models, so I'll keep using Wix/NAPA until I can. The extra money is worth knowing that the filter will clean the oil, not add more dirt.

Diesel911 · #24 11-17-2007, 12:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Craig

Well, if I have an oil related failure before I reach 600K miles I'll know what to blame. I guess they will owe me a new engine for spec'ing these "inadequate" filters.

I don’t know about products made out side of the country but my understanding is that in the US they only have to replace the defective product. They would give you a new oil filter.
You would have to initiate a law suite for any chance of any more reparations. Besides having to otherwise prove your case you would also have to prove you did not cause the failure yourself by not installing the filter correctly.

Hatterasguy · #25 11-17-2007, 12:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tangofox007

Little is proven by a lack of data.

Here is some data for you. 100% of the filters that I have examined contained small rocks, pebbles and grit.

I cut open about half a dozen new ones a couple of years ago when this whole thing started. I didn't find rocks, or pebbles.

Its funny 3-4 years ago no one talked to cared about this.

BIGRED · #26 11-17-2007, 01:06 AM

The filter is doing its job, if it is removing rocks, pebbles, and beetles. I suggest parking your car in a different location and or use an air filter

greasybenz · #27 11-17-2007, 04:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by H-townbenzoboy

Do ANY of you have any evidence that filter content has "degraded" in the years since these cars were new? Did anyone cut up an OM617 filter in 1976, 1985, 1992, and 2005? If so, was there any noticable difference in them? I found some NOS oil filters on eBay for MB diesels from the 60's, I posted a thread but nobody got them. Right then and there, an interested party would've been able to buy a pack of vintage filters, open em up, and compare contents to today's filters. Nobody bid, were they afraid the results would reveal that there is no problem? I don't know. You don't even know how long the media in the filter has been that way. For all you know, you've been using a filter filled with "crap" for over 30 years and hundreds of thousands of miles, and only now is it a problem. Choose whatever you want, but I'm just sayin'...

I didnt have the cash to buy them at the time

If they popped up again i have the cash to get them and buy them up in a hurry. What would be the big deal of opening up 60's oem filters and finding the same crap we have in our filters today? Id just shut my mouth about the fram filter and buy up a bunch of hengst, mahle, and bosch filters like it was nuthin.

If they ever pop up again PM me and ill buy them.

But im still against buying the MANN filter because of the pine needles finding their way out of the filter and into the oil filter housing. That was a big no no on buying another mann filter.

greasybenz · #28 11-17-2007, 04:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hatterasguy

Well my engine has been running on these filters for the last 267k miles, at this point I have better things to worry about.

Since zero data exists that these filters harm the engine in any way, shape, or form.

A pine needle would be ground up in the oil pump and forced though the oil passages. Nothing inside these filters could do any harm.

Wasnt there someone on the MB club of america forum who stated that his 616's engine failure was caused by the internals of a purolator filter. Im trying to find the link to thread but i remember reading about a purolator filter that broke apart in the oil filter housing and seized up the engine.

tangofox007 · #29 11-17-2007, 10:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hatterasguy

Its funny 3-4 years ago no one talked to cared about this.

Do you have data to support that?
How long do you have to talk about something before it becomes worthy of discussion?
Isn't is a sort of "Catch 22" to suggest that something should not be discussed until it has been discussed for at least a certain period of time?

tangofox007 · #30 11-17-2007, 10:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BIGRED

The filter is doing its job, if it is removing rocks, pebbles, and beetles. I suggest parking your car in a different location and or use an air filter

You might want to study up of the specifics of the bypass filter and reevaluate that position. I am sure that anyone who understands the concept would agree that there is only one way for rocks, pebbles and insects to get inside the bypass section of the filter-they have to be "manufactured" in.